Phase E – Opportunities and Solutions
The objective of Phase E or the Opportunities and Solutions Phase is to:
- Identify the important phases of change
- Any known parameters
- High-level projects / Work packages
- Any new business opportunities that arise from architecture work during previous phases
That will need to be undertaken when moving from the current environment to the new environment. Any outputs from the Opportunities and Solutions phase will be the initial step in modelling the implementation plan for the target architecture.
Other objectives during the Opportunities and Solutions phase are to perform a gap analysis between phase B (Business Architecture Phase) through to phase D (Technology Phase). In addition, during this phase it is important for the architect to review the capabilities and objectives of the business.
A full review (And confirmation) of the organisation or enterprises current parameters should be taken in order to see the effect of any proposed changes.
The definition of the solution building blocks should also be done and a set of transition architectures should also be derived.
Finally, an overall strategy outlining the Migration and Implementation should be generated and agreed upon with the relevant stakeholders.
When implementing Phase E or the Opportunities and Solutions Phase it is important to understand that this phase is the first phase which is directly concerned with the actual implementation.
On occasion, when identifying any new implementation opportunities a new application may be identified. If and when this occurs, it may be necessary for an architect to revisit and iterate over the previous phases.